Meet my sheep!

Would you like to meet my sheep? I’ve wanted sheep for years; City Boy didn’t. But hey, would I let a little thing like that stop me? I just let him think it was his idea to get a couple to mow the lawn… He often points out that a couple means two, and for some reason there are more than that out in what used to be his beloved lawn. But that can’t be helped, I tell him, it’s just nature! A couple is one boy and one girl…which leads to, well…more than a couple, right? I mean, look at us! We’ve multiplied and become four, so naturally a couple of sheep will do the same. This is when he points out that we did not become eleven, which is what the sheep did. Hmmm…he has a small point. But I can’t lay awake pondering, I’ve got to get up early and do chores.

The important thing is, I’ve got my sheep. I started out with a few (oh, yes…that’s three, isn’t it?) that I got from the neighbor’s daughter. I wanted to milk them, but as I found the following spring, only one was willing or able to produce enough milk for both her babies and me. So began the search for a dairy sheep. Oh, yes…there are dairy sheep! Sheep were milked long before goats or cows. Bet you never knew that, did you? But you’ve most likely eaten a sheep’s milk cheese at some point. Try looking next time when you go cheese shopping!

It took a couple of years for me to get the money for my dairy sheep. Not that the sheep themselves were horrifically expensive, but there just weren’t that many here on the west coast, so I had some shipped from Wisconsin. Ah…shipping is expensive! However, I’ve got my sheepies and I’m ever so happy with them. There are the two spotted boys, Carrot and Pokey, and the two girls, Taffy (white) and Bessie (black). They are beyond sweet, my sheep are. And in the spring I ought to have little East Friesian lambies to show you!

Up until this year I’ve only had enough milk to make soap; and just barely enough to get me through at that. The East Friesian’s should double my milk (or more, with luck) and I’ll be able to make cheese! I’m ever so excited about that process and will share with you my adventures when they happen.